Sony Imagesoft

Sony Imagesoft Inc. was an American video game publisher that operated from 1989 to 1995 and was located in California. It was established in January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, as a subsidiary of the Japan-based CBS/Sony Group (CSG) and initially named CSG Imagesoft Inc.^[1] Their focus at the beginning was on marketing games exclusively for Nintendo consoles.^[2]

Sony Imagesoft Inc.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	January 1989; 35 years ago (1989-01)[citation needed]
Defunct	March 1995; 29 years ago (1995-03)
Fate	Folded into Sony Computer Entertainment
Successors	Sony Computer Entertainment 989 Studios
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Owner	Sony
Parent	CBS/Sony Group (1989–1991) Sony Electronic Publishing (1991–1995)
Website	www.sony.com

The first release was Super Dodge Ball in summer 1989.^[2] Games by UK-based developers, Solstice and Dragon's Lair, followed in 1990. Both were also published in Japan through Epic/Sony Records.

After Sony had set up its North American division, Sony Electronic Publishing in April 1991,^[3][4] Imagesoft operated as Sony Imagesoft Inc.

Other releases are localizations of SNES games previously developed for Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) and published under the Epic/Sony Records brand: Extra Innings and Smart Ball, both published in 1992. Following a shakeup at Sony in 1995, Sony Imagesoft was merged into Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) and has since only supported the PlayStation brand.

Sega partnership

On May 20, 1992, Sega of America and Sony Electronic Publishing announced a partnership to create content for Sega's consoles under the direction of Imagesoft.^[5] Besides Sega's cartridge-based Genesis and Game Gear consoles the partnership targeted the upcoming Sega CD peripheral.^[6] Among the first titles released for Sega's consoles after the announcement are Sewer Shark and Hook. Sewer Shark, initially released exclusively to Sega CD, is a rail-shooter that years earlier had been shelved as part of the ill-fated Control-Vision platform. The Hook video games are tie-ins to the Spielberg feature film Hook that premiered in December 1991 and was produced by Sony-owned TriStar Pictures. Ports of the video game for Sega platforms are based on the SNES game published earlier by Imagesoft. The Sega CD version was enhanced with better cut scenes with voice actors and digital stills and featured music from the film soundtrack.^[7]

1995 changes

In March 1995 Sony Imagesoft announced that it had appointed Kelly Flock as president. Flock came from Trimark Interactive where he was executive vice president since March 1993.^[8]

Starting in July 1995, just two months prior to the release of the PlayStation console in Western markets, Sony Electronic Publishing restructured and renamed its divisions. All video game marketing from Sony Imagesoft was folded into Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA), with about 100 employees transferred from Santa Monica to Foster City.^[9][10][11] The video game business of Sony Imagesoft was merged with the product development branch of SCEA and became Sony Interactive Studios America^[12] which would later be renamed to 989 Studios.

The computer software business of Imagesoft became Sony Interactive PC Software America and was headed by general manager Ray Sangster.^[12]

Games published

Title	Platform	Genre	Release date	Developer
3 Ninjas Kick Back	Sega Genesis	Action	&1994-06-01June 1, 1994	Malibu Interactive
	SNES		&1994-11-00November 19, 1994[13]
Altered Space	Game Boy	Puzzle adventure	&1991-09-30September 1991[14]	Software Creations
Bram Stoker's Dracula	Game Boy	Action	&1993-00-001993	Psygnosis
	SNES		&1993-09-00September 1993[13]	Traveller's Tales/Psygnosis
Championship Soccer '94		Sports	&1994-06-00June 1994[13]	Sensible Software
Cliffhanger	Sega Genesis	Action	&1993-10-25October 25, 1993	Malibu Interactive
	SNES		&1993-10-00October 1993[13]
Chuck Rock	SNES	Side-scrolling platformer	&1992-11-00November 1992[13]
	Sega CD		&unknown	Core Design
Dragon's Lair	NES	Action	&1990-12-00December 29, 1990	Motivetime
Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong Nou	Microsoft Windows Macintosh	Point-and-click adventure	&1995-08-10Early August 1995	OutSide Directors Company
Equinox	SNES	Action-adventure	&1994-03-00March 1994[13]	Software Creations
ESPN Baseball Tonight	SNES	Sports	&1994-05-00May 1994[15]	Park Place Productions
ESPN National Hockey Night	Sega Genesis Sega CD		&1994-08-01August 1, 1994
ESPN NBA HangTime '95	Sega CD		&19941994
ESPN SpeedWorld	Sega Genesis	Racing	&1994-00-001994	Park Place Productions
ESPN Sunday Night NFL	Sega CD	Sports	&1993-00-001993[16]	Ringler Studios
	Sega Genesis		&1994-08-01August 1, 1994[17]
	SNES		&1994-11-00November 1994[18]
Extra Innings	SNES		&1992-03-20March 20, 1992	Sting Entertainment
Flashback	SNES	Action-Adventure	1993	Tiertex
Flink	Sega Mega Drive	Platform	&1994-05-00May 1994	Psygnosis
Gear Works	Game Gear Game Boy	Puzzle	1993
Ground Zero: Texas	Sega CD	Action	&1993-11-00November 1993[19]	Digital Pictures
Hook	NES Game Boy		&1992-04-00April 1992	Ocean Software
	SNES		&1992-10-00October 1992[13]	Ukiyotei
	Sega Genesis Sega CD		&1993-03-001992/March 1993 (European Mega CD version)[20][21]	Core Design
Hudson Hawk	NES Game Boy	Platform	&1991-00-001991	Ocean Software
Johnny Mnemonic	Microsoft Windows Macintosh	Interactive movie	&1995-05-26May 26, 1995	Propaganda Code,[22] directed by Douglas Gayeton
	Sega CD		&unreleased[23]
Last Action Hero	Sega Genesis	Action	&1994-03-28March 28, 1994	Bits Studios
	SNES		&1993-10-00October 1993[13]
	Sega CD	Beat 'em up	&cancelled[24]	Psygnosis[25]
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein	Sega Genesis	Action	&1994-03-04March 4, 1994	Bits Studios
	SNES		&1994-11-00November 1994
	Sega CD		&1994-00-001994	Psygnosis[26]
Mickey Mania	Sega Genesis	Platform	&1994-10-00October 1994	Traveller's Tales/Psygnosis[27]
	Sega CD		October 1994
	SNES		&1994-10-00October 1994[13]
No Escape	SNES	Action	&1994-11-00November 1994[13]	Bits Studios
Super Battletank 2 (European version)	SNES		&1994-10-001993	Absolute
Super Bomberman (European version)	SNES		&1994-10-00November 1993	Hudson Soft
Skyblazer	SNES		&1994-03-16March 16, 1994[28]	Ukiyotei
Sewer Shark	Sega CD	Shooter	&1992-10-15October 15, 1992	Digital Pictures
Smart Ball	SNES	Action-adventure	&1992-03-00March 1992[13]	Game Freak
Soccer Mania	Game Boy	Sports	&1992-03-00March 1992[29]	Kitty Group Japan
Solstice	NES	Puzzle	&1990-06-00June 1990	Software Creations
Super Dodge Ball	NES	Sports	&1989-06-00June 1989	Technōs Japan

Games developed

Title	Genre	Release date
Jeopardy Classic	Puzzle	May 22, 1994
Wheel of Fortune	Strategy	1994

References

1. Sony in U.S. Videogame Venture. In: Television Digest with Consumer Electronics. Volume 28, December 26, 1988, page 51.
2. CSG Imagesoft Enters U.S. Home Video Game Market. PR Newswire, Los Angeles, September 6, 1989
3. Sony Software Establishes Sony Electronic Publishing. PR Newswire, New York, February 26, 1991.
4. Consumer Electronics (Communications Daily), Vol. 11, No. 44, Warren Publishing. Page 9.
5. Sony Electronic Publishing and Sega of America announce broad business partnership. Business Wire, May 20, 1992
6. Adam Bryant: Sega Links with Sony to Make CD Video Games. New York Times, May 21, 1992. Accessed: 2010-09-01. (archived version)
7. Janet Wasko: Hollywood in the information age: beyond the silver screen. University of Texas Press 1995, ISBN 0-292-79094-5. Page 62.
8. Sony Imagesoft names Kelly Flock president. Business Wire New York, March 8, 1995.
9. Carl DiOrio: Sony to Transfer 100 Workers. In: The Hollywood Reporter, July 12, 1995.
10. Scott Hettrick: -- no title given -- In: The Hollywood Reporter, August 8, 1995.
11. Sony in Disarray on Eve of Playstation Debut. In: Television Digest with Consumer Electronics, August 14, 1995, ISSN 0497-1515, page 9.
12. Sony Electronic Publishing Co. renamed; Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. is established. Business Wire, August 17, 1995.
13. Super NES Release List from nintendo.com at the Wayback Machine (archived September 30, 2007)
14. "Altered Space – Game Boy – IGN". uk.ign.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
15. "ESPN Baseball Tonight". GameSpot.
16. "ESPN Sunday Night NFL Release Information for Sega CD – GameFAQs". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
17. "ESPN Sunday Night NFL Release Information for Genesis – GameFAQs". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
18. "ESPN Sunday Night NFL Release Information for Super Nintendo – GameFAQs". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
19. Peter M. Nichols: Home Video. In: New York Times, December 10, 1993. Accessed: 2010-09-16. (archived version)
20. "The Milwaukee Journal – Google News Archive Search – The earliest reviews available online are from March 1993". Retrieved 2015-07-07.^{[permanent dead link]}
21. "Hook for Sega Cd". GameFaqs.
22. Philips Teams With Propagande. In: Billboard, June 24, 1995, page 54
23. Sony Imagesoft to showcase "Johnny Mnemonic" Archived 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machine Business Wire, Santa Monica, California, March 13, 1995
24. Last Action Hero – Sega Mega CD unseen64.net
25. Notebooks. In: Television Digest with Consumer Electronics, Vol. 33, No. 21, Pg. 19. – "...Psygnosis, founded in 1984, published noteworthy "Lemmings" software series, and has developed 2 titles – "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Last Action Hero" – for Sega CD."
26. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for Sega CD at MobyGames
27. Mickey Mania for Sega Genesis Credits at MobyGames
28. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 5 March 1994. p. 67. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
29. "Soccer Mania Release Information for Game Boy – GameFAQs". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.

External links

• Sony Imagesoft profile on MobyGames